Three physiological effects contribute to the generation of acne pimples. The first is an excess production of sebum by the sebaceous glands and transported to the epidermis by the ducts of hair follicles. The second cause is the plugging of hair follicles by dead skin particles and/or external solid particles. The third cause is bacterial infection of accumulating sebum in these pilosebaceous follicles by anaerobic microorganisms including Propionibacterium. When these occur, the sebum accumulates, causes swelling, itching, growth of pustules or papules, redness of the skin, itching, and emotional distress. The acne pimple may finally burst, exuding a liquid or semi-solid. And it may heal with a permanent scar. Although doctors recommend against popping pimples and blackheads, many folks do so, often prematurely causing further damage.
The Food and Drug Administration lists accepted specific ingredients for treatment of acne, directed toward the second and third causes. Two treatments are directed toward bacterial infections are benzoyl peroxide (CAS #94-36-0) and sulfur (CAS #7704-34-9) or sulfur plus resorcinol (CAS #108-46-3). A treatment is also directed toward use of salicylic acid (CAS #69-72-7) as an exfoliant to prevent accumulation of dead skin particles that may clog the pores and cause accumulation of sebum where it can be attacked by the bacteria. The FDA has not approved any ingredient or system for minimizing or removing excess skin oils, but a number of astringent preparations have been marketed. These include clays, talcs, silicas, starches, polymers and similar materials. Alcohols and acetone are known to remove skin oils, but they often leave a dry skin that responds by promptly increasing production of sebum. Cosmetics applied to mask unsightly zits are generally cosmedogenic and may further aggravate the entrapment of sebum.
A number of products have been marketed for systemic treatment of acne by ingestion of pills containing antibiotics.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,756 discloses: “The primary etiologic factor in acne is now thought to be excessive sebum production. A treatment best able to modify this will be most efficacious. The present state of the art is such that treatment with systemic drugs in the only current way to control excessive sebum production.”
Acne is a prevalent and distressing problem leading to a reported $2 billion annual market for treatment in the U.S. Most treatments are based on the FDA-approved active ingredients discussed above. Some include unapproved ingredients such as clays, corn starch, microbeads, titania and walnut shells, presumably to provide a scrubbing action, but with the risk of clogging pores and making the problem worse.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,408 discloses the use of silicone oil copolymer and silicone gum in an aqueous emulsion to help regulate production of sebum. Anti-infective ingredients are added, such as benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. To be an effective treatment, such an emulsion is applied to the skin and left in place, as implied by subject patent. Such a product is not found to be on the market at the present time.
An extensive investigation and analysis of human sebum has been accomplished by personnel of Johnson & Johnson, developers and marketers of many skin care products. (ref. Pappas, et al, “Sebum Analysis of Individuals With and Without Acne,” Dermatoendrocrinol 2009 May-June 1(3): 157-161). Sebum consists of fatty acids, oily triglycerides and waxes. This reference reports that acne patients (both teenage and adult) had 59% more sebum than non-acne patients. The fatty acids have at least one unsaturated group (double bond in the hydrocarbon molecule) and the triglycerides from these oils are presumed to be similarly unsaturated. Of particular interest is the oil component of sebum, squalene, which is present at 12-15% in normal sebum but at 2.2 times as much in acne patients and this increase continues to be present in adult acne sufferers. This squalene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon with chemical formula C30H50 and it has six carbon double-bonds.
Johnson & Johnson and others purveying acne treatments have not used this information to develop and market a product comparable to the various embodiments disclosed herein despite their considerable research budgets.
The presence of double bonds in the molecules of mobile sapienic acid and sebaleic acid and in the higher molecular weight squalene plus the presence of a strong oxidizer and cross-linker (benzoyl peroxide) was troubling to this inventor who was well acquainted with the vulcanization of synthetic elastomers (EPDM and silicones particularly) by benzoyl peroxide at high temperature and was well acquainted with the slow decomposition of benzoyl peroxide in solutions at room temperature. The free radicals from benzoyl peroxide are standards in polymerization and cross-linking reactions at any temperature. If two mobile molecules of sebum and one free radical are in close proximity, the result may be a cross-linking reaction forming a new molecule with double the molecular weight and probably a new solid that the sebum ducts are not prepared to export normally. The body is good at moving liquids, but not solids in other than through the digestive system.
The oily triglycerides in sebum are only slightly different from linseed oil, used in paints for centuries because it oxidizes to a solid by cross-linking at its double bonds. Similar reactions are hypothesized to occur when the linoleic acid, sapienic acid, sebaleic acid and squalene of sebum react with benzoyl peroxide in a treatment intended to help minimize breakouts of acne. An acne treatment that combines benzoyl peroxide with clay may be making a product similar to linseed oil-based glazier's putty within the glands and ducts of the skin.
Squalene is a precursor to formation of low density cholesterol, another solid that can cause similar and more serious clogging of blood vessels.
The world needs a better treatment system for reducing the itches, inflammations, discolorations, scars and confidence problems caused by acne.